Making It In the Art World, New Approaches to Galleries, Shows, and Raising Money, a new book by Brainard Carey, was released last week by Allworth Press in both paperback and Kindle editions.

“This book is for the professional artist or the artist who wants to learn to be a professional,” Brainard Carey states in his introduction. Although that may sound like the beginning of a conventional how to book, just a few sentences further on Carey congratulates artists for being innovators in a world that values creativity, urging artist to bypass the traditional gallery system for more unconventional methods of getting their art to market. According to Carey, there is a burgeoning DIY movement going on that also pertains to visual artists doing it all themselves–their own marketing, promoting, and selling directly to the public.

Carey asks the question, “what if you could create a way of working with money that was as creative as making art? “

He then examines some of the creative ways that artists have sold their work and managed their art careers on their on terms.

Carey’s paradigm shift infuses his own brand of enthusiasm and methods of idea development with a tone that challenges artists to come up with their own new ways of earning money from their creativity. For artists already working outside the system and engaged in self-promotion and marketing, Carey presents “tools to pursue your dreams” — several chapters of practicable ideas containing real life steps to finding a patron, proposing an exhibit to a curator, and how the right winning attitude can make things happen.

Other “tools” contained in the 217 pages of Making It In the Art World include sample letters, a “workbook” portions of each chapter, and techniques on time management that Carey refers to as “the golden key” that will unlock possibilities.

This book is for artists looking for “ways to become more energized, more focused, and more productive,” Carey stated.

Brainard Carey and his wife Delia were included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial– a turning point in both of their art careers. Later, they jointly designed and continue to run their consulting business The Art World Demystified—providing mentoring services for creative artists. Brainard Carey personally coaches and advises artists on developing a professional art career. Yale University radio WYBCX hosts Brainard Carey’s show, The Art World Demystified, on which Carey has interviewed such art world luminaries as the art critic Arthur Danto.

Article first published as Making It In the Art World on Technorati.